Lavender was a pretty, sweet name for a pretty, sweet girl. One who did not deserve to be where she stood now, Cho thought. But this was where they were - in the midst of a war. And this time, it was not Cho's war of inner turmoil, of herself and her feelings, of walls painstakingly built even as they crumbled to pieces time and time again.
This time it was a war of bloodshed and tears, of spells and wands, of light and darkness.
And Cho had thrown herself into the center of it.
She was on her feet still, on her feet now, having returned to Hogwarts in order to fight. The great wizarding school may not have always been kind to her, but she still had that charmed Galleon.
She still remembered what it stood for, remembered that fleeting feeling of facing fear itself and not letting it consume her.
Now Cho was a beacon of light in the twilight sky.
The Battle of Hogwarts raged in full force, and Cho had come back in order to take her place in it.
Her mother had worried. Her father had warned her. Cho did not care.
Now she was standing beside Lavender, a girl she did not know nearly as well as she would have liked, but who seemed to be her only ally in a sea of enemies.
They were surrounded now, and Cho's spells were growing weaker.
She told herself over and over that all they had to do was hold on. Hold on tight, and never let go.
For this fall did not seem to be one that they would ever recover from.
"Cho Chang?" Lavender asked, bewildered, as though she'd only just noticed her.
Cho spun, narrowly avoiding a streak of emerald light. "Yes?" she said tersely.
Lavender smiled. "Good to see you," she said warmly. "It's been a while."
"What?" Cho pursed her lips into a frown - was she dull? They were in the middle of a battle, a war, and she was dwelling on formalities.
Cho cast a shield charm, the force of it sending her staggering backward. A turret of the castle behind her exploded into a million pieces of shrapnel, the sheer sound of it jarring. Cho spared a glance towards Lavender.
Her easy smile was gone, replaced by a look of utter terror. Eyes wide, she was trembling from head to toe.
Cho watched as she stole a glance behind them, at the rubble that they had called home for seven years.
Lavender collapsed to her knees at the sight of it.
Cho was no Gryffindor, but she had to do something.
"Lavender, look at me," she said, stepping over the shattered stones towards her.
"Cho…" she said, her voice distant.
"Look at me," Cho said again. They may not have been friends but they were allies now, two stars in a bleak night sky.
One of whom was quickly fading.
Cho grabbed Lavender's arm, pulling the girl to her feet. She was like a statue, petrified with fear.
Cho thought of Penelope Clearwater, her dutiful prefect she did not save all those years ago. Cho would not leave Lavender to the same fate, she decided.
Her shield flickered weakly.
Cho did not spare a glance behind her before she yanked Lavender behind the piles of debris. The bricks offered some cover, however small it might have been.
Lavender sagged against them, limbs falling limply. "I'm sorry, Cho," she said softly.
No, no, no.
Who was Cho to be the strong one? Who was Cho to guide her?
Cho was nothing.
She was a girl constantly on the verge of tears, a girl who let jealousy and regret consume her until they were all she knew.
Lavender was not so damaged. Lavender deserved better.
"Come on. Please."
She deserved to be the strong one.
And she was, Cho realized, as the next booming explosion seemed to yank Lavender back to reality.
She blinked away the tears, stood of her own accord.
She turned to Cho, the despair all but gone.
"Okay," she said. "Okay."
Perhaps that was what made a Gryffindor, Cho mused.
A bit of raw bravery, a bit of noble chivalry, but also -
Recovery.
Being able to bring yourself back from the brink, being able to catch yourself whenever you should fall.
It was not a skill Cho had, not by any means.
But Lavender -
She was different. She was the strong one.
They were on their feet again, face to face with their attackers. Cho's lips were numb, throat parched from shouting incantation after incantation.
But she was here and she was fighting, and that was what mattered. She was back in the Room of Requirement, back on the Quidditch pitch, she was a beacon of light, a star, unstoppable -
A horrible scream shattered her to pieces once more.
As she whirled around far too late -
But just in time to see Lavender swept away by a large, canine creature.
Cho's breath caught in her throat.
For it wasn't just any creature.
She only caught the barest glimpse of it as it barreled away, bounding nimbly over the wreckage and leaving Cho standing helplessly in the wake of the dust it kicked up.
A werewolf.
Cho scrambled over the bricks, but she was not so agile. She could fly, soar up and away, but on the ground, she was slipping and falling and -
She stumbled, hissing at the sharp pain as one of the fallen stones sliced her knee. Her legs buckled as she cried out, her next step sending her foot wedged between two bricks from where it did not budge. The werewolf became but a dot in the distance, Lavender's screams disappearing along with him.
No.
No.
Cho thought she might be sick. With a quick flick of her wand, she blasted away the rocks, staggering to her feet.
But once again, she was too late.
Lavender was long gone, and Cho had not even had the chance to say goodbye.
